As noted in Daybreak, a new Lebanese law grants substantial rights, particularly concerning work, to the 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in the country. (Incidentally, though the governing March 14 coalition hailed the bill’s passage, some Palestinian civil rights leaders said it did not go far enough.)
Among others, the Palestinians of Lebanon have Tablet Magazine contributor Judith Miller and contributing editor David Samuels to thank. In a mammoth (and al-Jazeera-endorsed!) report last October, they documented the poor living conditions and discriminatory policies sustained by the 4.6 million Palestinian refugees who reside in neither Gaza nor the West Bank (the majority in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan). “After 60 years of failed wars, and failed peace,” they wrote, “it is time to put politics aside and to insist that the basic rights of the Palestinian refugees in Arab countries be respected—whether or not their children’s children return to Haifa anytime soon.”
Lebanon Gives Palestinians New Work Rights [NYT]
No Way Home: The Tragedy of the Palestinian Diaspora [Independent]
Palestinians in Lebanon Win Right to Work [The National]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.